Americans are increasingly skeptical of athletes manipulating betting outcomes

• A new YouGov survey sought to find out how Americans perceived sports gambling’s impact on sports in the wake of a major NBA scandal
• YouGov observed that 80% of sports bettors believed that professional athletes would fumble plays to influence betting outcomes
• People who do not bet are bigger skeptics about the impact of sports betting regulation on sports than actual sports bettors

A recent spate of high-profile gambling-related cases has rocked the highest echelons of professional sports in America, from Major League Baseball (MLB) to the National Basketball Association (NBA), undermining the integrity of the game and leaving fans disappointed.

Americans increasingly believe pro athletes are playing to influence betting outcomes

It started with an FBI investigation that led to the arrests of 30-odd people, including prominent NBA insiders Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups, and soon after resulted in similar accusations leveled against prominent MLB, MLB, and even NCAA players.

To assess the aftermath, YouGov, a market analytics firm, has queried 19,000 respondents, both sports bettors and non-sports bettors, to assess the general mood following the NBA scandal specifically. The results are in, and 65% of Americans say that they believe professional athletes are adjusting their play to help secure certain betting outcomes.

Asked "How often do you think current professional athletes alter the way they play to help sports gamblers win bets," the majority of bettors (32%) said that athletes sometimes adjusted their play to match betting outcomes.

The second largest group said never (29%), followed by those responding rarely (19%), and 13% were confident that this happens often. Only 6% found the notion unlikely and said that pro athletes would never be motivated by gambling outcomes to underperform to secure a payout.

However, who you ask matters, as sports bettors actually say that they believe this to be happening way more often than it actually is. Skepticism was much higher among sports bettors who, in aggregate, thought that players manipulated outcomes.

More than 80% said so, with 38% answering sometimes, 25% suggesting rarely, and 18% confirming this happened often. The survey also queried respondents about what they thought of sports betting legalization and whether it had a positive or negative impact on sports in general.

Non-sports bettors tend to be bigger skeptics

The answers differed based on whom you asked – gamblers and non-gamblers, with sports bettors responding that the influence has been negative in 31% of the cases. 37% said that sports gambling has not been either positive or negative, and 9% said they were not sure. Then again, 24% sports bettors said that it had been positive.

The same question was posed to non-bettors, who said that the impact has been clearly negative, 44% of respondents. 16% of non-bettors weren’t able to give an opinion, and 31% said that the impact has been neither good nor bad. Only 9% of non-bettors hazarded that the legalization of sports gambling has been a boon to sports.

This survey aligns with another one published by the American Gaming Association, which similarly highlighted growing skepticism in the integrity of major leagues.

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